We want to make sure you receive the latest information about what's happening at SONGS, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
From time to time, we'll send you an email with updates on the work taking place on site; information about the Community Engagement Panel; and important news and policy updates regarding finding an off-site location for SONGS spent nuclear fuel.
|
|
|
|
Note: If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please opt-out below.
|
|
NRC Chairman Christopher Hanson Tours SONGS
|
|
Earlier this month, we welcomed Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Christopher Hanson for a tour of SONGS.
During the day, Chairman Hanson visited the turbine building area, the spent fuel storage systems, and the Unit 3 containment building. Hanson was accompanied by NRC Region IV Administrator Scott Morris and staff.
|
|
Chairman Hanson (center) receives a tour of the UMAX dry fuel storage system. SCE Regulatory Affairs Manager Al Bates is at right, along with Hanson's Chief of Staff Molly Marsh, at left.
|
|
Inside the Unit 3 containment building, Chairman Hanson receives a briefing on the process to segment the reactor vessel head (seen in the background) for removal and shipping.
|
|
Environmental stewardship: how we protect wildlife species near SONGS
|
|
In this case, we're talking bats. More specifically, maternity bat colonies. They are protected in the state of California so we look for their presence 14-days before the start of building demolition. The target on this evening was the Unit 3 turbine building.
Watch the video below for more information.
|
|
Work begins on Unit 3 turbine building
|
|
While the dismantlement of the Unit 2 turbine building continues, work has begun on the Unit 3 side, starting at the top with the removal of components used in the generation of electricity.
|
|
The Unit 3 turbine deck, just like Unit 2, contains one high pressure and three low-pressure turbines, as well as the generator. The elevated orange buildings are known as "dog houses" and the component beneath them is the main steam reheater.
|
|
A worker uses a torch to dismantle one of the dog houses, so-called because of the resemblance. The large housings contained the low-pressure turbine stop and throttle valves. There were six per unit.
|
|
The large gantry cranes located on the top of the turbine decks have been vital to completing this work. The components involved are all extremely heavy and can be lowered to ground level for further cutting and disposal.
Work on the turbine buildings is expected to wrap-up in mid-2023.
|
|
SONGS update airs on Saddleback College station
|
|
|
We had an opportunity to provide an update on the SONGS decommissioning with hosts Karyn Bower and Mark Spinn with Saddleback College.
The wide-ranging interview covered decommissioning, spent fuel storage safety and the prospects for relocating the spent fuel to a federal facility, eventually.
|
|
Correcting the record: op-ed simply misinforms on flooding
|
|
Last month we shared a blog post on tsunami safety. This month we needed to expand on that following an op-ed printed in the Times of San Diego and authored by Paul Blanch, who has been affiliated with both Public Watchdogs and the Samuel Lawrence Foundation.
In his piece, Mr. Blanch envisions a large ocean wave flooding the spent fuel storage systems, creating “an unsurpassed disaster on our hands, an uncontrolled criticality, one that has never occurred in the U.S. commercial power industry."
Please go here to read our full response.
|
|
...and on sea level rise as well.
|
|
The San Diego Union-Tribune recently published an article based on a new sea-level rise report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (and others) that updates projections through 2150.
A reporter reached out to us for information about how sea level rise relates to SONGS. We study sea level rise every year using environmental scientists based in La Jolla who produce a report that is submitted to the California State Lands Commission. (Available here).
Rather than print any of the information we provided initially, the section on SONGS mostly featured an activist, Charles Langley, making false claims. The Union-Tribune reprinted these assertions, seemingly without asking if they were true or even plausible.
They aren’t.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Mr. Langley that directly last year. Yet rather than adjust his messaging, Mr. Langley just repeats it to whoever will listen—and not challenge him.
The Union-Tribune updated its story to include our direct response to Mr. Langley's assertions, which is appreciated.
|
|
Must-see video about spent nuclear fuel
|
|
Kite & Key Media has done a remarkable job of condensing the issues surrounding spent nuclear fuel into this short video.
Spoiler alert: it's not green goo.
Take a look:
|
|
Sweden moving forward on deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel
|
|
(From World Nuclear News)
Radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) submitted applications to build Sweden's first nuclear fuel repository and an encapsulation plant to the Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) in March 2011. The integrated facility - the encapsulation plant and the Clab interim storage facility at Oskarshamn - is referred to in SKB's application as Clink.
The application concerns the disposal of 6000 capsules with a total of 12,000 tonnes of radioactive waste at a depth of about 500 metres. SKB also applied to extend the storage capacity of the Clab facility from the current 8000 tonnes of fuel to 11,000 tonnes.
Read the full story here.
|
|
This month's Community Engagement Panel meeting featured guest speakers from the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Energy Institute. The subject was the renewed effort by DOE to develop a consent-based siting process that could ultimately lead to a federal interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel.
Visit the CEP meeting page on our website to watch the meeting.
|
|
Where do the Dutch store their nuclear waste? In a cool orange building that features precious works of art on the inside.
From the Nuclear Netherlands website:
"COVRA continues to manage Dutch radioactive waste to protect people and the planet. All the radioactive waste is safely stored by COVRA in specially designed buildings for at least a hundred years. The waste is isolated in a central place, where it can be managed and controlled to guarantee safety over that long period. Eventually, the waste must be sent to a final disposal site. This guarantees that the waste will remain outside the living space of people for thousands of years."
|
|
Safety, Stewardship, Engagement. | www.SONGScommunity.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|